Media Statement by Chow Kon Yeow,Penang State Executive Councillor for Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation on Monday 24 July 2017.
Media statement on news article entitled “Rising cost of LRT queried MCA: Penang’s project pricier per km than Klang Valley LRT3”, which quoted MCA Penang Youth Chief Datuk Michael Lee Beng Seng.
The State Government of Penang asserts that there is no cost escalation for the Bayan Lepas LRT project, as alleged in the news article:http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/07/21/rising-cost-of-lrt-queried-mca-penangs-project-pricier-per-km-than-klang-valley-lrt3/
To clarify, the RM 8.4bil cost as quoted in the RFP (Vol 1, page 4-15) includes construction cost, land acquisition and other costs (e.g. design, supervision, fee, etc) for Phase 1 works (24km); whereas the RM7bil cost (rounded down from RM7.4bil) quoted is for the construction cost for LRT, excluding land acquisition cost of RM1bil.
It needs to be understood that the estimated construction cost for Bayan Lepas LRT will be different from the LRT3 due to its unique features. These 2 LRT projects are dissimilar on several grounds, for example:
There are more stations per km for the Bayan Lepas LRT @ approximately 1km per station stations compared with LRT3’s approximately 1.4km per station.
Almost 50% of the Bayan Lepas LRT alignment is sited on poor coastal ground conditions.
The cost of Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) Highway is also stated in the RFP (Vol 1, page 4-15) at RM7.5bil.
Similar to LRT, the estimated construction costs for PIL 1 will be different from other highway projects because about 40% of the alignment consists of tunnels.
The construction cost is estimated based on preliminary studies during RFP stage. Actual cost can only be determined when the work packages are tendered out to the public.
Further efforts to compare costs between projects is not constructive and will only serve to confuse the public, as each project will have unique features that are distinctive from the project it is compared against.
CHOW KON YEOW
Penang State Executive Councillor
Chinese Version:
马华再次讲骗话，槟城轻快铁造价没有飙升！
马华指槟城轻快铁造价从70亿令吉飙升至84亿令吉。
事实：70亿令吉不包含征地费，84亿令吉是总估计。
马华制造假新闻混淆民众，诬告希盟州政府。
#抵抗假新闻
#拒绝诬告